In a telecommunications setting, “routing” refers to at least defining a network configuration through a workflow process. Due to the competitive global market, establishing international routes to communicate traffic is a complex process absent the present invention.
When few variables were needed to be taken into consideration to route international traffic, various prior-art methods were used. One such method employed text-based email. Routes are implemented based on information that is entered into and contained within switch routing tables. A switch contains many data tables, establishes numerous routes, and manages the flow of traffic to and from international countries. In this prior-art method, a person referred to as a “planner” would retrieve data related to establishing an international route. With only very few variables to consider, the planner would determine a network configuration and send an email to a “switch translations analyst” who would implement the change in the appropriate switch. This system and method is limited to environments where very few variables need to be considered. Moreover, this prior-art method is prone to errors because it uses a crude text based email system. It is impossible to deliver meaningful analysis from crude text based data. Switch commands sent by a planner could be erroneously entered, thus leaving greater room for error.
The switch translations analyst does not have access to the data available to planners. Accordingly, the switch translations analyst may have no way of knowing that the planner's instructions are erroneous. Invalid commands in the switch would disrupt communications between customers and its services. A slightly better system method can be found in a simple database prior-art system.
The simple database architecture provided a central repository for text-based instructions that were formerly communicated via email. Even in this prior-art system, a planner must gather from a variety of sources the data necessary to formulate the routing instructions for a switch translations analyst to update the switch. Gathering the information to determine what routing scenario is the most economical becomes even more cumbersome as additional variables must be considered.
A final exemplary prior-art system used to determine the least-cost pathway to route international traffic involves a strained collaboration between at least three parties. Such a collaborative system involves a first group who negotiates the cost of service associated with the use of minutes of international bandwidth. A second group receives instructions from the first group and then pieces other network and data variables together in an attempt to communicate the appropriate least-cost routing path to the translations department. Such a structure is not adequate to support changing business requirements and lacks a solid architecture and database structure upon which to build additional functionality.
This prior-art system still captures work orders as freeform text. A still more significant, albeit common, shortcoming of this prior-art system is that no one entity has all the information needed to both negotiate buying international call time and to determine network elements for the international route. That is, the negotiations group is often unaware of the actual bandwidth needs of the carrier or the network details and the network analyst, who determines the network configuration, is unaware of what is available to purchase.
The reason for this disconnect is that the prior art does not offer a system that receives all the variables necessary to determine a least-cost route and present those variables on a single user interface so that a routing request can be determined. The current state of the art could be improved by providing such a system. Moreover, the art could be improved by providing a system that incorporates a rules engine to automatically construct a switch update and automatically send it to the switch(s) necessary to implement the routing request.